I once enjoyed watching stations like TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network) and The Church Channel. There are still a few preachers I enjoy listening to, but lately it seems a lot of sermons are about how to get wealthy by sending my money to the ministry of the hour. If I hear about how I should sow my seed, too many more times, I’ll toss my cookies.

Tithing is a good, biblical teaching, and sacrificial giving is a wonderful thing to do. But neither will make you wealthy on this earth. The whole biblical idea behind both is to learn to rely on God for the things you need.

Luke 12:27-28 “Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith? “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.”

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So, Preacher of prosperity, show me one scripture that supports your claims, preferably without twisting it so far out of context the Author Himself wouldn’t recognize it. And don’t give me 2 Corinthians 9:6-8. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:” This is about more than money, and is once again learning to rely on God. And notice the word “sufficiency”. I doesn’t say wealth. Does it?

As a matter of fact we’re instructed in Luke 12:33-34, “Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I know that’s a hard teaching, and it won’t make you popular, but I have to ask. Where is your treasure, Preacher?

How dare you convince people they are struggling financially because they’re not giving enough of their money to your ministry! What are you going to tell them, Preacher, when their lights get turned off and their car repossessed, because they gave, thinking they’d get rich?

How dare you convince people they’re bad Christians, because they struggle to pay their bills. Our LORD and Savior didn’t even have a bed to sleep in. Luke 9:58 “And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” What right do we have, with our petty little offerings to expect any better? The Apostle Paul lived in poverty, and worked his way through his much of his ministry. 2 Thessalonians 3:8 “nor did we eat anyone’s bread free of charge, but worked with labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you,”

How many people have you burdened, Preacher? When was the last time you gave your lunch money to a hungry person, paid a bill for a member of your congregation out of your own pocket, or bought a ham you couldn’t afford for a hurting family? I know broke Christians who have done all of these things recently. Yes, God will bless them, but it might not be monetary. Sometimes blessings are the tire that doesn’t blow, the washer that runs two years longer than it should, or the store that just happens to have everything you need on sale.

What you’re teaching is a lie right out of the pit, Preacher, and it smells like smoke..